WCR This Week

League wants foreign workers to be allowed to stay

FORT SASKATCHEWAN — The Catholic Women's League is supporting temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents of Canada.

At its June 3-5 provincial convention, the CWL passed a resolution urging governments to act on the matter.

The resolution cites the fact that foreign workers often find themselves taken advantage of by employers and agencies and that they often don't have a path to permanent residency.

The Alberta Federation of Labour has presented four recommendations for protecting the rights of temporary foreign workers and the CWL is calling on the provincial and federal governments to implement them all.

Background information provided for the resolution noted that 57,700 temporary foreign workers lived in Alberta in December 2008, part of the 251,000 across Canada. Those workers need to have their rights protected and have a greater opportunity to become permanent residents.

The resolution has to be approved by the national CWL convention before it becomes league policy.